Welcome to another edition of Sites Weekly.
Last week, we released a new Genesis theme out into the wild. Outfitter Pro is here, and it’s ready to help you create a magnificent storefront website.
Also, Brian Gardner started writing a new series of blog posts that deliver quick tips for using Genesis. His first post details how to add Typekit fonts to your Genesis website.
Now on to this week’s links …
Content: Are you creating content that will stand the test of time?
One of my side projects is a college basketball postgame show. It’s great. I enjoy it. We’ve built a big audience. It even generates some revenue.
But there is one element of this project that never ceases to frustrate me: Within 24–48 hours after we record our show, it’s no longer relevant. A new game comes along, we record a new show, it’s relevant for 24–48 hours … and the cycle continues.
See the problem? We have to stay on the content creation hamster wheel to keep our current audience engaged and find new audience members. None of these pieces of bread-and-butter content that we create live on and continue attracting attention in the future.
For all that I love about this project, the difficulty of finding opportunities for evergreen content has always been a struggle. Evergreen content is an investment. You put time, effort, and resources into the content, and it pays dividends for weeks or months or even years into the future. It’s a beautiful thing.
You should definitely seek out every opportunity you can to create evergreen content. And if you want tips from an expert on what types of content you can create that will be evergreen, look no further than the great Darren Rowse. He tackled this topic on a recent episode of his podcast.
7 Types of Evergreen Content You Can Create On Your Blog
Design: What if you didn’t put your best content behind an email opt-in?
It sounds crazy, right? You want to build your email list, so it makes logical sense to design your website in such a way that puts your best content behind an email opt-in.
But what if you didn’t do that? What if you just made all of your content freely available, and I do mean freely available, by not even asking for an email address?
One company tried this, and it worked well enough to get their Senior VP of Marketing nominated for Content Marketer of the Year. The exact strategy this company followed might not work for you, but elements of it may be worth considering.
For example, what if you only required an email address when you deliver an extra benefit to the user? What about using pop-ups to suggest additional content, rather than to ask someone to opt in to your list?
There’s some interesting stuff here that you might not have considered before.
Setting Content Free: How Health Catalyst Gets Results With Ungated Content
Two of the most important decisions you will make about your WordPress website are your theme and your hosting. Wouldn’t it be great if they worked together to make your website more powerful?
Now they can.
Discover why over 213,675 website owners trust StudioPress.
Technology: Is it time to reassess your email strategy?
I’m always a sucker for any headline that promises new data on email marketing.
The demise of email has been projected for so long, that even though I firmly believe in email’s long-term staying power, I’m still on the lookout for signs of a downward trend. Don’t worry. The link I’m about to share doesn’t suggest that. (Quite the contrary, in fact. Check out the second graphic.)
And since email is still here to stay, it’s always good to understand how the desires and behaviors of email users are changing.
Check out this post from AdWeek for some updated data. It’s a simple, quick post — a few easy graphics and some bullet points. As you’ll learn, beware of sending people offers or recommendations that don’t match their interests.
40% of Consumers Want Emails From Brands to Be Less Promotional and More Informative
Strategy: A brilliant method for getting more people excited about your ideas
Do you ever struggle to bridge the gap between the excitement in your own head about a new idea you have … and trying to transfer that excitement to someone else?
I know I do. I get so worked up in my own head about ideas that I think are brilliant, but then I’ll explain them to someone and their response is, well, let’s just say much flatter than I want it to be.
Why?
Because usually I’m so busy talking about the idea, that I don’t spend enough time talking about the thinking behind the idea. And that’s a problem, because that’s where the real transfer of understanding and enthusiasm takes place.
I’ve recognized this issue for a long time, but nothing I’ve read described it better, and suggested a better solution, than this post by Jay Acunzo.
The Green Smoothie Problem: Why Others Don’t Buy Your Ideas
Bonus article: Useful tips on Instagram Stories
I stopped using Instagram a while back. In the meantime, its user growth has accelerated and its importance, at least in certain circles, has grown as well.
So I’m thinking it might be time to get back in the Instagram game a bit. Thus, I found this post helpful as a primer for how to use Instagram Stories.
Alrighty. So … which of the ideas in these posts will you put to good use immediately?
I’ll be back with a new edition next week.
Keep building.